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small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now bbc world news. >> this is bbc world news america reporting from washington. i am matt frye. rebels and government forces continue to fight it out in libya. the end game in the ivory coast, the incumbent president to give it up. virgin galactic rocket ship will soon be ready to make it real. we have an inside look. >> we have six passengers sitting free on each side of the vehicle.

there will be able to look into the blackness of space. >> welcome. makess gaddafi's de army games, his political allies flee. rousseff colusa abandoned his job, fled his country, and began to spill the beans. he is now being trumpeted in the west as a sign that gaddafi's regime is coming from within pinnock we will see. -- from within. we will see. >> he was a trusted lieutenant often seen at his side. but the libyan foreign minister

moussa koussa has deserted his former master been he flew into london yesterday and is now in a safe location, where he is being debriefed by british officials. >> his resignation shows that they deduct the regime, which has already seen significant defections -- that the gadhafi's regime, which has already seen significant dissectiondefections crumbling from within. >> so who is moussa koussa? he went to work for libya's intelligence service, becoming the head in 1994. in 2009, he was appointed foreign minister. he is a man with a past and

knows libya's secret. the bombing of pan am 103 over lockerbie was the deadliest example of libyas exhaust -- libya's involvement in terrorism and the government insists he will not be offered immunity from justice. they want to talk to him via >. >> anyone from the libyan government will be of interest to us. >> he is responsible for the death of two hundred 70 innocent civilians, as well as thousands of his own people as part of the give up the regime. no matter what he says now, he has to be held accountable for my brother's death and the death of thousands of others. >> when tony blair met colonel gaddafi, moussa koussa was in

the background. clandestine contacts may be why he came to britain. >> he is an old man. he has serious health problems. his body could not take the pressure. we understand that. we give him permission to live -- to leave libya. >> when he was first here 30 years ago, he was an agitator for the good doctor racine. now he has returned carrying -- for the gaddafi regime. now he has returned. >> of the skies of libya, nato is taking sole command -- above the skies of libya, nato is taking so command of them. today, the rebels in libya has suffered another setback. after making significant gains over the weekend, it is forced

to retreat. firing continues to mizrata. >> trying to recover lost ground, the rebels set off again could they know the enemy is lying in wait. they learned that the hard way. so, this time, the approach was more cautious, scanning for hidden traps and standing -- and sending patrols into the desert to protect the evidence. within minutes, they were firing rockets. but gaddafi supporters were hitting hard with mortars. this unequal battle was over fast. once again come of the rebels are having to make a hasty retreat. they did i get very far forward. just ahead, there were hit with

incoming fire. now have had to push back once again. soon, the casualties were coming out. doctors say the rebels have lost 40 men here in the past two weeks. >> we have made mistakes, said abdallah. we are fighting for freedom. there's no control, no plan. we're just trying. these latest pictures show an airstrike by a belgian f-16. but nato has ruled out sending arms to the rebels. that will be a blow to a man like this who has been fighting for change for the past month. >> we want democracy and good government, he says. and we do not want libya to be in the third world. this is a rich country. we want to advance. >> but the new libya is not coming as fast as the rebels hoped.

and the mood now is subdued. the freedom fighters have had a bruising few days. they drank the sweeping into tripoli. but it is now looking like -- they dreamt of sweeping into tripoli. but it is now looking like a much longer fight. >> the opposition and needs as much as anything some training, some command-and-control, and some organization. it is pretty much a pickup ball game at this point. i got a question yesterday one of those briefings. they truces in providing training and assistance, frankly, there are many countries that can do that. that is not a unique ability for the united states. as far as i'm concerned,

somebody else should do that. >> seized power immediately, that is what -- seeseize power immediately, that was the message. in the ivory coast. supporters of the internationally recognized winner intended to force him out of office. >> have every firing across largely empty streets. smoke could be seen rising, too. the forces were now at the gates of the city. they were taking the cocoa port of san pedro overnight. french troops were among those based in ivory coast and on

patrol. a u.n. helicopter flies overhead. hand the prime minister says it could be over in a matter of hours. ouattara has been protected in a hotel. the army chief has sought refuge in the residence of the south african ambassador. on local tv, he said that, to all of those of you who are still hesitating, whether kennels, officers and more soldiers, read join hall lawfulness. there is still time to join your brothers. >> a scene like this has led to

fears and more violent showdown. at least 470 people have already died linked to november's disputed election. the red cross said today that thousands of civilians were trapped by the conflict and it was particularly concerned by the prospect of all-out confrontations between supporters of mr. ouattara and mr. gbagbo. here are soldiers in training. france has asked gbagbo to leave. ban ki moon has also and asked

to not seek revenge for past attacks. >> in japan, it has been nearly three weeks since the devastating earthquake and tsunami. but the race to contain the nuclear crisis is far from over. the sea water radiation around the damaged fukushima plant is now more than four taliban -- 4000 times the legal limit. more international experts are being called in. but the country could have been better prepared. >> the people here 0 their lives to the sea wall that protected their town -- the people here owe their lives to the sea wall that protected their town. today, the sea is tranquil and the wall is unscathed. this man was retrieving his

carpentry stock been his business do the sea was destroyed. but he got off lightly. without the wall, the tsunami would have swept deeper inland. >> we lost electricity when the earthquake hit, but the police and fire brigade managed to close the floodgates. if it were not for that, it would have been a real disaster here. >> the country has some of the most advanced sea defenses in the world. but, in some places, the walls were not high enough. in others, there were none at all. across japan, the tsunami has made officials asked if the nation is protected enough. >> the people in this area, if they possibly can, should move

to higher ground. but it costs money to buy land and houses. if i can come i would like to build bigger and stronger walls to keep them safe. >> there lies a warning along the coast. the 60-year-old walls were no match for the sea. the sea will be its stand as a lonely tomorrow for a town that may have been destroyed forever. >> the world trade organization has ruled that the aircraft naked byrd has received illegal subsidies from the u.s. government, giving it and done their advantage over europe's airbus. it is only now that the information has been made public. microsoft has filed a complaint the european union regulators against tgoogle.

they claim that it used its dominant position to restrict microsoft services. where is the look of the irish when they most need it? now when the fiscal crisis is deepening, four additional banks will need an additional $4 billion -- $40 billion in cash. this comes after a series of stress tests, making the hopes of a quickly -- a quick recovery even more elusive. >> when a property bubble burst three years ago, irish banks were left exposed. much of the money they lent, they could not get back. but only now is the full scale of their losses becoming clear. a detailed examination of irish

banks revealed they urgently need more funds -- 24 billion euros. >> the main underlying reason for such a large increases the need to restore market confidence. it is a prerequisite for markets returning -- for banks returning to normal levels. >> the extra 24 billion euros is the equivalent of 21 billion pounds. it brings 27 billion so far needed to bailout buyers banks. ireland's economy is suffering and some are many of its people. -- and so are many of its people. folks are battling to keep up with payments. his wages as a hotel porter have been cut.

he is struggling to support his five children. >> can people survive at this stage? can they pay their mortgages? can they pay the electricity bill, gas bills -- is a tough situation appeared >> economic recovery will be -- situation. >> economic recovery will be painfully slow. the results from today's stress test shows that it will not change any time soon. the extra money for the banks will come from the international bailout fund negotiated last year. ireland has a new government and a chance for a new start. but the country's financial problems run deeper than many people thought. >> you are watching bbc world news america appeared still to come on tonight's program, getting ready for blastoff. we have rare access to virgin

galactic, which, for the right price, is preparing to carry you, probably not me, it into space. now to our week-long series. we have been issuing new stories about how millions of immigrants have been attractive. tonight, we turn to the world of literature. i discussed the depiction with a the editor of "the new york times" book review. so the american dream, is it a tired political cliche or is it a compelling human drama? or both? >> in literary terms, it is probably the single great american story. a young nation, that is even now thinking of itself as young, has a vast system re that imagines it can create a greater loss for itself. is, there is a great moment to that -- yes, there is a

greater component to that. great gatsby, "the man from minnesota who comes from back east and wins the sweetheart he met when he was in the army. he builds a huge mansion in long island and turn that to be as gangster. there is a dark secret under current to the american dream when we look at it in literary terms pierre >> how has that changed? >> the details have changed. if we look at novelists like john updike, the details of life is familiar to us. the ideals are still pretty much the same. someone who comes from humble or provincial beginnings can rise to something higher. this is not entirely an american theme. >> i was going to say -- >> it is the human condition.

it has become the great myth of america, the great thrilling line. gets becomes to stand for america itself, divided between power -- gatsby comes to stand for america itself, divided between power and dreams. "freedom" captures it with the most detail and complexity. he shows an aspiring family, yuppies, who comes from the 1980's. they travel ease, again following a familiar trajectory of american fiction. only they see their world, part in the george bush years, on their ideas about the economy, about politics, about the environment, and the family

itself. they fragment and the pressure of those years. it is a contemporaneously look at the myth of the american dream. >> thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> make sure to join us tomorrow when the american dream series concludes. we will see how it has traveled south and is now thriving in brazil. this story is for anyone who has dreamed of blasting into space and has money to burn. for a mere two hundred thousand cows, burgeon galactic will give you a ride to space -- for a mere two hundred thousand dollars, virgin galactic will give you a ride to outer space. we have been given rare access for this report. 40 years ago, only if you have

the right stuff to blast into space. nasa's shuttle program took over, but it was the preserve of professional astronauts. that could all change because of this. it is not quite a giant leap. but this spaceship could be a small step to making space travel affordable. >it is my first time inside a spaceship. it is the first time that any journalist has been allowed in here. it is not finished at the moment, but the pilots will sit here and there will be six passengers sitting free along each side of the space ship. there will be able to steer out of the windows and see the blue skies of the turn purple and then into the blackness of space. the rocket motor behind them will disappear. the rush of the atmosphere outside the spaceship will vanish. and when they hear the silence that is left and see the black as outside, they will know that they are in space. they will then get around five minutes floating in the cabin.

this is the view they will see. the astronauts will begin their journey here. it is the world's first purpose- filled commercial spaceport. it is under construction in the new mexico desert. there will get three days of training before heading to space. the trip comes in two parts. first, this plane carries the spaceship up to 50,000 feet, higher than a normal plane, before dropping it in mid-air. the space ship then fires its rocket could in less than a minute, it will be traveling at two 0.5 -- 2,500 miles per hour. each spaceship in a pilot. >> it is not the actual flying of the vehicle. it is anticipating what could go wrong because of a one-of-a-kind airplane. >> there will be lower carbon

emissions per passenger than a transatlantic flight. >> 50 years, there has been close to 500 people who go to space. in the first year or two of this program, it may be thousands of people going to space. it is a game changer. everybody will know somebody who has been to space in the next 20 years. >> tickets are not cheap. a seat in here will cost you 125,000 pounds. but more than 400 people have already booked. the work going on in this but doesn't warehouse is likely to lead -- in this desert warehouse is likely to lead to competing ventures. we are here to talk with richard live in california's mojave desert. the list of people who can blow to hundred thousand dollars on five minutes of weightlessness is pretty short. >> i think we can surmise that

the type of customers who paid are those with plenty of spare cash around. you have to have that knocking around and be prepared to blow it on what is, in total, a two- hour trip. about 415 to a 420 people have already booked. they have a refundable deposit of $20,000. some have paid a deposit. some have paid the entire money up front. i guess they are very, very keen. they may be on the very first flight for the paying public. >> richard, when astronauts go into space, they have years of training. what about these people? >> there will be about three days of training. they are waiting for regulatory approval. the that -- a lot of it will be

mental rather than physical. they do not think that the physical demands will be that great. astronauts have an awful lot of very expensive training normally. in this, you're subjected to not quite as stringent forces. they are positioning the seats to help you. for example, on reentry, coming back to earth, you are lying flat. braking force going back into the atmosphere is distributed across your entire body. when you go up in the first place, the peak acceleration will only last for a few seconds. then it will die off. they think that most people will pass the test. >> ok. we have to leave it there. thank you very much. that is it for tonight. get in touch with me and the

rest of the bbc world news team on twitter. that is it for this program coul. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold. the top stories from around the world. and quick-to-play video reports. experience the expert reporting of bbc world news online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vt., and honolulu. newman's own foundation, the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank. ♪

>> union bank has put its global expertise for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news america was presented by kcet los angeles.